


parentheticals

by Benzaiten (DaughterOfTheWest)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluffy as hell, M/M, firstyear!Asahi and firstyear!Kiyoko, mentioned AsaNoya and KiyoYachi, swag 2015, their friendship is so important ok, this is super cheesy ok but it's cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 20:04:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5678884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterOfTheWest/pseuds/Benzaiten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"They didn't make a big deal of it, but they dated for a while as first years."</p>
<p>[Written for SWAG 2016]</p>
            </blockquote>





	parentheticals

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was:
> 
> Kiyoko/Asahi-- "They didn't make a big deal of it, but they dated for a while as first years."
> 
> This is super unbeta'd and rough but I'm pretty sure I wrote this at an ungodly hour of the night and in a rush, lol. Hope you enjoy anyway!

Kiyoko-san was nice. She was shy, and quiet, and watched them as they ran laps around the court or practiced spiking with eyes that spoke of intelligence behind those cute glasses. Asahi didn’t think about girls that much, if he was being honest-- he was more concerned about whether or not he was going to be struck by lightning, or hit by a car, or maybe the stress of schoolwork and practice would kill him first. Not to mention any number of deadly diseases, poison animals, or sudden medical complications-- so no, Asahi didn’t have time to think about romance, or crushes, or much of anything outside of schoolwork and volleyball.

But he liked Kiyoko-san. She was nice. 

Maybe “nice” was too bland a way to put it. Kiyoko-san was smart and kind, and he liked that she didn’t flinch when he spoke to her. Even Takemura-san, the departing third-year manager, seemed uneasy when he asked her where the bathroom was. The only other girl he knew who wasn’t afraid of him was probably his sister, or his mom.

Once, when Asahi was on the bench, they ended up talking and he discovered that Kiyoko could be pretty funny, too. He wasn’t sure what she saw in him, but the two of them often found themselves seated side-by-side on the bleachers while the upperclassmen played matches. From there it turned to walking to practice together, and by the time he realized that every time he glanced over to her in class she was staring back at him.

They sat together in the lunchroom. The ambient susurrus of their peers, whispering and muttering about what an odd pair they made, did not escape their attention.

“Why do you hang out with me, Kiyoko-san?”

Kiyoko glanced up from politely sipping her tea, “Why do you ask?”

Asahi knew what people thought of him: they thought him a punk, a yankii, a thug. Shouldn’t he be graduated already? He was a bad influence on such a lovely and promising first-year. All of these things crossed his mind and she read them in the frown lines on his face.

“Azumane-kun,” She set down her tea and fixed him with a gaze like an apology, “You are kind. You are compassionate.”

He begged to differ with every compliment, but Kiyoko stopped him.

“--And, perhaps this is strange to say, but… You treat me like a person.”

Asahi stilled.

“Everyone else… I feel like people handle me as though I were something fragile, something to be seen, put on a pedestal. Like a doll.”

Kiyoko returned to him with a sheepish smile, “I’m really glad we’ve become friends, Azumane-kun. You make me feel listened to. Acknowledged.”

Asahi felt the heat rise to his cheeks, and was so distracted by the pitter-patter of flattery, he almost didn’t notice the tiny degrees in which he was falling for her, centimeter by centimeter. 

It didn't work out romantically, in the end. They kissed once beneath a bridge after practice-- her small, strong hands cupped around his timid, clumsy ones-- she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach his face, even back then. They never did more than that. Neither of them was much interested in going farther, and both of them were perfectly okay with that. It was nice. Relaxed. Ultimately that aspect of their relationship was so secondary to the quiet moments and conversations that the decision to just be friends was mutual.

He did fall for her, did love her; And she did love him. But it was not a grand, romantic love to shake mountains and make the oceans tremble-- it was a quiet and gentle love: the love of warm hugs and hours watching movies on a couch, of long nights during training camp in which they did nothing but sit up and talk until dawn broke, of such a fundamental respect and affection for the other person that romantic gestures felt like trying to explain concepts that could never be captured in mere words. 

Later, each of them would find even more kinds of love-- Asahi the wild ride of romance with Nishinoya, explosive and powerful and moving in ways he never thought he'd understand; Kiyoko, the sweet tenderness of thin fingers slotted perfectly into hers, Yacchi’s upturned face, quavering smile, gentle bravery. Did that mean Kiyoko and Asahi lost what they had? Well, love is not a zero-sum. Their relationship changed, sure. Every relationship does with enough time.

Azumane and Kiyoko dated for a while. It wasn’t a big deal; it was a small, deep one.


End file.
